Alexander Proctor papers, 1837-1895
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Summary
- Creator:
- Proctor, Alexander, 1814-1865
- Abstract:
- African American family originally from Virginia and North Carolina. Legal papers and correspondence relating to the Alexander Proctor family, tracing their history beginning as freedmen in Virginia and North Carolina, their 1840s resettlement in Warren County, Ohio, their emigration to Haiti in 1861 as part of the Redpath movement, and their eventual return to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1866. The correspondence dates principally from the 1870s, is chiefly written by A.W. Proctor, one of Alexander Proctor's sons, and S.S. Hutchins, friend of Proctor's son, Isaac, and relates to family affairs, business, and other matters. S.S. Hutchins is identified in the Gould's St. Louis Directory (1874), 449, as Chief Clerk in the U.S. Army Engineer's Office. One letter from a friend to a family member mentions seeing Frederick Douglass at Wilberforce College in 1893. The legal records document the free status of the Proctors, various labor agreements, and migration papers, and include receipts and letters of introduction.
- Extent:
- 0.1 Linear Feet
36 Items - Language:
- Material in English and French
- Collection ID:
- RL.01055
Background
- Scope and content:
-
One-folder collection of 19th century legal papers and correspondence concerning the migratory movements, legal status, life situations, and relationships of members of a free African American family. The correspondence dates principally from the 1870s, is chiefly written by A.W. Proctor, one of Alexander Proctor's sons, and S.S. Hutchins, friend of Proctor's son, Isaac, and relates to family affairs, business, and other matters. S.S. Hutchins is identified in the Gould's St. Louis Directory (1874), 449, as Chief Clerk in the U.S. Army Engineer's Office. One letter from a friend to a family member mentions seeing Frederick Douglass at Wilberforce College in 1893.
The legal records document the free status of the Proctors, various labor agreements, and migration papers, and include receipts and letters of introduction. Official documents from Haiti are written in French and include an 1865 order permitting the burial of Proctor at St. Marc, Haiti. In terms of the context relating to the family's emigration to Haiti, many people that emigrated by way of the Redpath Agency to Haiti, as was the case for the Proctors, either died or were untraceable by 1864, and few managed to return to the U.S.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Proctors were a free African American family from the South, who left Virginia in the early 1840s, lived in Warren County, Ohio, moved to Canada in 1860, and emigrated to Haiti in 1861. Alexander Proctor (1814-1865), a Baptist minister, died there, and his family, headed by wife Margaret Chaven Proctor (1814-?), returned to the U.S. and settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan with one of her sons.
- Acquisition information:
- The Alexander Proctor papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 1978.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Rubenstein Library staff, 1978
Encoded by Jessica Carew, Paula Jeannet, June 2014
Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 1978
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
- Subjects:
- Indentured servants -- United States
Freedmen -- Virginia -- History -- 19th century
Redpath movement
Missionaries -- Haiti
African American families
African Americans -- Haiti
Freedmen -- North Carolina
Back to Africa movement
African Americans -- North Carolina
African Americans -- Migrations -- History -- 19th century
African Americans -- Ohio
African Americans -- Michigan - Names:
- Proctor family
Proctor, Margaret
Proctor, Alexander, 1814-1865
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 - Places:
- Warren County (Ohio) -- Emigration and immigration
Ohio -- Emigration and immigration
Saint-Marc (Haiti) -- Emigration and immigration
Haiti -- Emigration and immigration
Michigan -- Emigration and immigration
Contents
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- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
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The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Alexander Proctor Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.